Is Civ 4 much better than Civ 3?

Piste

Hi there, I absolutely love Civ 3, I've had it for years but especially lately I've been playing it so much but it does get a little boring after 6 years so I was thinking about buying Civ 4, but I want to know is it really that much better than Civ 3, will I fail my Leaving Cert by spending all of 5th and 6th year on it or will I regret spending my hard-earned cash on it? Opinions please!

Rev Hellfire

Ohh yes it is.

Should you happen to bite the bullet and buy it and its expansion warlords, there's a PBEM game abort to start shortly over on darkkeep if you fancy some multiplayer action.

ps. don't trust Max he's a dirty backstabbing, camelhumping, B%*t#@d who will pay. Ohh yes I will have my revenge...

Piste

What's this PBEM thing? Are you telling me that Civ is now multiplayer? :O

Rev Hellfire

PBEM ... Play by EMail although we typically play by forum (same thing)
This is more turn based, you do your turn, then the next then the next.

You also have the PitBoss server which is like a Persistent Game which people can join and keeps on going until completed. Unlike the above you don't have to wait for someone to post there turn (although if you know the admin password you can move the game on.)

There's also play via gamespy.

To get an idea of the type play we do here's the last game which just ended. I'm currently awaitting my maker in one the games and will most likely try and arrange another one once that happen. There's normally a post here when a game is about to start.

Maximilian

Those are of course fightin' words Rev

Sand

Civ4 is vastly better than Civ3.

The guy

Civ3 Conquests is better than Civ4.
But if you're bored with Civ3 you should probably buy civ4.

Mr. Presentable

Civ 4 is better than Civ 3, but then Civ 2 was better than Civ 3

Maximilian

Civs 2-4 inclusive are better than Civ 1.

Branoic

Civ 4 craps all over Civ 3. I had Civ 3 but I just found it boring. I played Civ 1 and Civ 2 to death in my youth, and attribute those games soley to my crappy job now (oh why didn't I study harder??). But I was really disappointed in Civ 3, it was jaded and old. Civ 4 is an absolute gem. It manages to recapture the initial feeling of awe and excitement I felt when first experiencing Civ 1. And the Warlords expansion is class! Now that they've ironed out some of the silly bugs in the vassal systems its actually really cool.

damnyanks

Whats the tech like and so on? I always seem to find the AI in civ (1 - 3) poor. At best they're usually just a thorn in my backside who annoys some of my cities or steal some of my tech

Sand

Best thing about the AI in Civ4 is its kinda clear why they like or dislike you. Its not the usual "If you have to ask why I hate you, theres no point in telling you" crap you get from other diplomacy AIs. Close borders, recent conflicts, forming alliances against them, trading with their enemies or people they dislike, differing religions, yadda yadda all count against you and the UI lays out the facts which is nice.

The trading one actually forces me to consider a trade in terms of whether dealing with this particular crowd will annoy anyone else and if I even care if theyre annoyed.

Blowfish

How does Civ4 compare to Alpha Centauri?

Sand

I'm biased tbh - I think AC is possibly the best turn based strategy game ever made, when you consider it came out before Civ 3, and was vastly superior to that game in terms of design and execution [Civ 3 was an incredible let down for me because it ignored everything from AC].

That said, Civ 4 is a better game than AC though you cant design units which is sad [Would be cool to diverge from history and have steamtanks and skyships etc etc, but not to be] - I dream of AC 2, but thats unlikely to happen. There was an attempt to mod Civ 4 to AC but thats died a death if the forum is anything to go by.

Piste

Would PBEM not be terribly slow?

Rev Hellfire

Piste wrote:

Would PBEM not be terribly slow?

Depends on what you mean by slow

In the games we've had average running time is around a year or so, but with turns issued every day or so depending on the number plus availability of the players. Certainly the start of the game can be a bit uneventful, but once 'contact' is established it heats up fairly quickly.

skelliser

hey im selling my copy for 15euro if ur interested, only played it once, have original box manual etc. excellent condition.
realised if i did get into it my life would be over!!

Lafortezza

The one thing that annoys me about Civ4 is the AI. As you move up in difficulty levels instead of the AI getting cleverer and using better stategies to win, it just receives much better economic and tech bonuses (and the human player is penalised). Therefore it gets techs faster, gets better units faster and builds everything faster than the human players.

gaius c

I kind of preferred civ 2 to both 3 & 4. It was much easier to go to war for one thing.

Maximilian

We just finished another pbem game over at darkkeep.com. A new record I think at about 9.5 months! When the BTS expansion (this month I think) arrives, there will be some new games starting up, due to the extra mp options they are introducing.

Sephiroth_dude

would ye recommend someone who never played the civilisation games before,pick up civ 4?is it easy to get into?

Rev Hellfire

It's pretty easy to get into. You should be able to pick it up pretty cheap these days.

Nevyn

I recently got the Civ boxset as a present

* Sid Meier's Civilization I
* Sid Meier's Civilization II
* Civilization II: Fantastic Worlds
* Civilization II: Conflicts in Civilization
* Civilization II: Test of Time
* Sid Meier's Civilization III
* Sid Meier's Civilization III: Play the World
* Sid Meier's Civilization III: Conquests
* Sid Meier's Civilization IV

In addition to the games, the box set will include a number of other civilization items that no fan should be without:

* Civilization: The Card Game: An original tabletop card game featuring more than 250 custom cards and rules based on Civilization IV.
* The Chronicles of Civilization: A 96-page book containing the history of Civilization.
* Video DVD: Content includes a detailed presentation by lead designer Soren Johnson and artist Dorian Newcomb about the creation of Civilization IV.
* Tech Tree Posters

Hours of fun.

badbrian

Never even knew this forum existed. I love Civ II,played it to death, but still like to play it occasionally. I did get Civ IV but just didn't like it from the start. In fairness I didn't give it a fair go and reverted back to Civ II quicksharp.
I've an off-thread question that someone might be able to help me with. My Civ II games keep crashing and I was wondering if it were possible to get a fix?
Ta
Brian

Maximilian

You could try right clicking on the .exe file, going to properties and try tweaking the settings, compatibility modes etc. assuming you use XP. That might work.

To be honest though, I'd just dump it and get Civ 4 - its a far better game and much easier to get into. The complexity is there if you want it but if not, you really can just dive in and play.

Its $49 from www.steampowered.com which works out at about €35 or so, and direct to your PC.

Sephiroth_dude

well I bite the bullet and brought this today for 25 quid in virgin,i just hope i like it :-|

Maximilian

You can't possibly not. And yes, that is Spock.

Sephiroth_dude

its good alright,im not really into turn based games,but this is good im enjoying it,still trying to get my head around a few things,but it definitely has opened a door to a new gaming genre for me,where before i would have completely ignored turned based from now i'll give them a go i think and the expansion Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword is out friday i think....so i may very well pick that up too

Sephiroth_dude

actually is the other expansion pack warlords anygood?

Maximilian

Its ok but you can easily live without it. The new expansion looks far more worthwhile.

Sephiroth_dude

thats what i was thinking now alrite.....i think i'll buy the new one on friday

Rev Hellfire

And once you do join us when we start a pbem game.

Sephiroth_dude

ya why not sure,as long as you tell me how to play and what not =D

Maximilian

The new Expansion BTS is available to buy on Steam from Friday

Pyr0

The new Expansion is pretty good, although one thing I've always hated about the Civ4 battle system is how stupid it can be, horse archer beating a tank, wtf is up with that ? It really puts me off when you can't take a city with 5 swordsmen against one archer, but if you try the same you lose straight off !!

RoyalMarine

i bought civ4 the day it came out. installed it played for 10 mins and then deleted it.
didnt like the interface.
ive played since civ1 about 10 years now...

had em all. civ1, 2, 3, 4, test of time (loved that one)
but have to admit alpha centauri is by far the best.

stuck with civ3 now. and i think i might go route out civ4 since your all talking about it again....
pbem it is so ill be ready in a few months. lol

Hypnotoad

Are any of the Civ2 expansions any good?

garrethg

My typical stream of consiousness after an eight hour play session of Civ 4:
"just-one-more-turn... my eyes are bleeding... I'll stop... right after this turn... right after this turn..." (two hours later) "...just-one-more-turn".

Does anyone else play the Fall Form Heaven II mod? I've probably spent as much time playing this as vanilla Civ.

aidan_walsh

Pyr0 wrote:

The new Expansion is pretty good, although one thing I've always hated about the Civ4 battle system is how stupid it can be, horse archer beating a tank, wtf is up with that ? It really puts me off when you can't take a city with 5 swordsmen against one archer, but if you try the same you lose straight off !!

pwd

"The one thing that annoys me about Civ4 is the AI. As you move up in difficulty levels instead of the AI getting cleverer and using better stategies to win, it just receives much better economic and tech bonuses (and the human player is penalised). Therefore it gets techs faster, gets better units faster and builds everything faster than the human players."

This happens in all the civilization games. It's a total copout - they just don't bother their collective arse to program strong ai for the games.


"Are any of the Civ2 expansions any good?"

Civization 2 - Test of Time has a fantasy expansion that is fun. It takes place in four planes (underworld, sky, ocean, land). You can make an army of liches appear beneath the ground around a city, or have a group of birdmen swoop down. However he AI doesn't take advantage of the particular sides' strengths and weaknesses so its replay value is limited, even ifyou intentionally choose a weaker race.

pwd

have some time off and decidd to buy this game. Can't find it anywhere. Tried all games shops in dublin city centre and several further afield. bugging me at this point.

aidan_walsh

pwd wrote:

have some time off and decidd to buy this game. Can't find it anywhere. Tried all games shops in dublin city centre and several further afield. bugging me at this point.

If you're willing to go down the route, Steam has it and all its expansion packs.

skelliser

pwd - i have a copy for e15, only played it once, boxed and in excellent condition